Homemade Granola

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time parting with all my old magazines. The other day, I was going through some old issues, making sure no great recipes would be discarded. That's when I found this Homemade Granola recipe tucked away in one of my Taste of Home magazines. It was in their Healthy Cooking September 2011 issue. This granola recipe has become pretty popular around our house, serving it with yogurt. We also like it served just like a bowl of cereal with milk, and the other day I mixed this granola with my warm oatmeal. That was tasty! Start with 8 cups old-fashioned oats.Add 1 cups finely chopped almonds. I chose not to chop the almonds, as I love the bigger bites!Add 1 cup finely chopped pecans. Again, I roughly chopped these nuts. I love the larger pieces. Pour in 1/2 cup flake coconut. This is the only ingredient I hesitated adding. My husband and other family members don't like coconut. They haven't noticed there is coconut in the mix, so I hope they don't read this particular post. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, oil, honey, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt (I used sea salt). Heat for 3-4 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour the prepared mixture over dry ingredients.Stir to coat all ingredients. Transfer granola mixture to two large baking pans coated with cooking spray. I use coconut oil spray. Spread granola, spreading mixture to the edges of pan.The original recipe says to bake granola at 350 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes. I lowered my oven to 347 degrees F. and baked granola for 20-25 minutes and it was perfect! Make sure you stir granola every 5-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks. Store granola in an airtight container. (Recipe adapted from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking, Delectable Granola, September 2011)